Shades for lighting fixtures and to the means for supporting same



Feb. 9, 1965 N. L. KULA 3,168,988

SHADES FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES AND TO THE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAME Filed Sept. 12, 1962 United States Patent 3,163,988 SHADES FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES AND TO THE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAME Norbert L. Kola, Chicago, TIL, assiguor to The Stifiel Company, Chicago, ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 12, 1962, er. No. 223,193 ll Claim. (Cl. Zed-dill?) This invention relates to shades for lighting fixtures and to the means for supporting same.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a shade for a lighting fixture and to the means for supporting same, which is readily and easily attachable to the light bulb and which when attached positively secures the shade in a secured attached position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shade and attaching means of the foregoing character which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, which is attachable to a light bulb and detachable therefrom with a minimum of effort, and which is very attractive.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view showing the light shade in supported position.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on lines 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing the shade in detached position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on lines 33 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the shade.

The horizontally positioned arm may be secured to a wall or to a vertically extending support 12 in any conventional manner. The arm 10 has an internal longitudinal passageway 14 which communicates with a vertical opening which is internally threaded as at 16 to receive a short threaded sleeve 18 which is also internally threaded to receive the threaded end 20 of a tubular member 22. A spacer member 24 is positioned on the tubular member 22.

The tubular member 22 supports an annular shaped cover generally indicated at 26 and a socket genenally indicated at 26. The lower end of the tubular member 22 is externally threaded as at 30 to receive the central opening 32 on the cover 26. The cover is provided with a plurality of spaced openings 34 and a depending annular rim 36.

The electrical socket generally indicated at 28 has a supporting member 38 formed of a pair of spaced bars 39 attached attheir lower ends to the socket and connected at their upper ends by a cross-member 40 which has a threaded opening 42 for engagement with the threaded end 30 of the tubular member 22. A washer 44 is interposed between the cover 26 and the top of the socket supporting member 38. Engagement of the socket supporting member 38 with the tubular member 22 secures the spacer 24 in position.

The electrical conducting wires 46 extend from their connection to the source of current supply through the passageway 14 in the arm 10, through the tubular member 22 to the electrical socket 23. A conventional light bulb 47 is connected to the socket.

The shade generally indicated at 50 comprises a cylindrical shaped body 52 which is formed of any suitable material of sutficient body to maintain its shape. The shade is open at its opposite ends. The lower end of the cylindrical shade has a circular shaped wire reinforcement 54 secured to the inside thereof which is suitably covered. Secured to the inside of the upper end of the cylindrical body is a circular or ring shaped wire member 56 which is suitably secured thereto by a band of flexible material 58 adhesively secured.

The means for detachably securing the shade to the light bulb, which is one of the novel features of this invention, will now be described.

The means generally indicated at 60 comprises a pair of identically shaped substantially rigid wire members or holders 62 and 62 permanently secured to the wire ring 56. One of the wire holder members 62 will be described in detail and appropriately numbered. The other wire member 62', which has the identical shape and construction, will be given the some numbers primed.

The wire member in side elevation is shown in FIG. 2, and starting from the top, the upper opposite ends 66 of the wire member extend vertically and then continue downwardly and inwardly toward each other to form side sections 68 and then are bent inwardly toward each other to form short lower side sections 70. The short lower side sections 70, as viewed in end elevation in FIG. 3, incline outwardly and downwardly from the side sections 68. Continuing from the lower side sections 70 is a connecting section 72 which is of arcuate shape, as best shown in FIG. 4. The connecting section 72 curves outwardly and upwardly of the bottom of the lower side sections 70. The upper ends of the wire members 62 and 64 are suitably welded or brazed to the ring 56.

The two wire members or holders 62 and 62' are secured adjacent each other at their uppe ends, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, so that the upper ends 66 and 66' contact each other and then diverge gradually away from each other so that the side sections 68 and 68' of the two wire members form an inverted V-shape formation when viewed in end elevation as in FIG. 3. The two separate lower side sections 70 and 70' diverge further outwardly and the connecting sections 72 and 72' are positioned opposite each other to form a generally oval shaped configuration when viewed in plan as in FIG. 4.

The two wire members or holders 62 and 62 adjacent their lower ends are spread apart so that when the shade unit is adapted to be secured to the lamp bulb it is positioned as in FIG. 2 and moved upwardly into contact with the bulb, so that the two wire holders 62 and 62' are spread apart sufiiciently so that the connecting sections 72 and 72, which are the only portions of the holders contacting the bulb, move over the bulb from the bottom upward until they pass upward of the greatest diameter of the bulb and then rest on the upper portion of the bulb adjacent the neck of the bulb, as shown in FIG. 3. At this stage the upper end of the cylindrical shade will be nested within the cover 26, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

This arrangement permits the shade to be readily attached to the light bulb with ease and with a minimum of elfort and yet maintains the shade in a securely locked position. It can likewise be removed by moving the shade downwardly so that the holders 62 and 62' spread away from each other as the connecting sections 72 and 72' pass over the greatest diameter of the bulb.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from thespirit and scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A shade for attachment to a light bulb which light bulb has a neck portion, said shade comprising a body portion and means for detachably securing said shade to the light bulb at said neck portion, said means comprising a pair of wire holders, each said wire holder having its outer opposite ends attached to the shade, each said wire holder having outer opposite ends which extend vertically and continue downwardly and inwardly in straight lines to form sloping side sections and continue inwardly to form an arcuate shaped connecting section between said side sections, the outer opposite vertical ends of the side sections of one holder being secured to the shade and in contact with the outer opposite ends of the side sections of the other holder, with the said side sections diverging gradually away from each other so that when viewed from an end the two side sections of the two holders fonrn an inverted V-shape, said arcuate shaped connecting sections of said pair of holders engaging said light bulb adjacent said neck portion and above the maximum diameter of the light bulb so that said shade is supported by said light bulb.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,213,293 1/17 Ston s 240108 5 1,682,918 2/28 Luckiesh et a1 240138 2,387,857 10/45 Ross 240-108 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,305 4/ 16 Great Britain.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. 

